No electricity in the coop.

[Countrycarat]

We bought a house last August and inherited silkies. The chicken coop is around 100' foot away from our house and I don't yet have electricity out there. For baby chicks I have built a separated area around 4 foot by 4 foot in the coop that both mother and chicks can stay for about 2 months. This separated area has 1 inch sheet insulation wrapped in plywood all the way around it. During the warm months I can take the insulated panels out and replace with screen panels. Having the mother in there keeps the chicks warm but it also makes that tight of a space messier. The mother chicken wants to scratch the food out of any container that I put in there. That not only scares the chicks that go running but also flys in to the water container. I want to move the mother out but it is still getting down around 60 degrees at night and the 6 chicks I have in there right now are only 4 weeks old. I also have 2 other chickens sitting and might have more hatched out in about two weeks. I'm thinking about trying the pvc pipe automatic feeder and watering system but that space is really tight already. I just wanted some input from some seasoned professionals.

 

[Silo]

The should be fine without the hen. They can cuddle up if they get cold. If you get worried about them you can run a 100 foot electrical cord and put a heat lamp on them.

 

[kardar2]

Better Start,digging a shallow trench for PVC and start feeding wire through it. Take a old extention cord cut off the end hard wire to the wire you ran to the coop plug it into the wall

 

[Folly's place]

The hen will keep her chicks warm; don't separate them. You will have a much better winter experience if you run electricity out to your coop! Mary

 

[TRMFAM]

I have read about the deep litter method providing warming in the coop...I am sure if the coop were insulated it would help too. I believe it was in the fresh eggs daily book...I know they use mulch piles to warm greenhouses in the winter, same concept.

We are brooding ours in the attached garage and I have a solar / battery setup for the coop but it will just run an on demand light and auto chicken door. Have to do the math on the wattage draw of the heater bulb but you could consider that too (much easier then digging 100' trench) ; ). The panel starter kit was $100 on Amazon and then pick your battery anywhere from $70 - $300.

 

[nordicacres]

We don't have electricity in our coop and we just ran an extension cord out to there for the sweeter heater.

 

[bobbarker]

Better Start,digging a shallow trench for PVC and start feeding wire through it. Take a old extention cord cut off the end hard wire to the wire you ran to the coop plug it into the wall

I'm not sure where the OP is writing from, but this would not meet electrical code most places in the United States, and with good reason.
I would advise not doing this, as it's dangerous and not only could you run afoul of regulations, but if anything bad were to happen because of it, you would likely not be covered by insurance for installing something that violates electrical code.

 

[kardar2]

I'm not sure where the OP is writing from, but this would not meet electrical code most places in the United States, and with good reason. 

I would advise not doing this, as it's dangerous and not only could you run afoul of regulations, but if anything bad were to happen because of it, you would likely not be covered by insurance for installing something that violates electrical code.

I was suggesting in a emergency situation till babies were older but yeah he would still have dig abut 18 in deep trench or what ever the code is with the 12 Guage wire would carry the current good. Better then extention cords that are not heavy enough and with the two cords plugged together laying in water could be worse too. But he got it figured out.

 

[donrae]

If all your chicks have a momma hen, she'll keep them plenty warm without any special space or insulation or additional heat. Myself, I'd move momma and the babies out to the main flock while she's still interested in taking care of them. She'll handle the integration for you and you won't have a hassle to deal with later if you try to add older chicks with no momma to stand up for them.

 

[tracecom]

We bought a house last August and inherited silkies. The chicken coop is around 100' foot away from our house and I don't yet have electricity out there. For baby chicks I have built a separated area around 4 foot by 4 foot in the coop that both mother and chicks can stay for about 2 months. This separated area has 1 inch sheet insulation wrapped in plywood all the way around it. During the warm months I can take the insulated panels out and replace with screen panels. Having the mother in there keeps the chicks warm but it also makes that tight of a space messier. The mother chicken wants to scratch the food out of any container that I put in there. That not only scares the chicks that go running but also flys in to the water container. I want to move the mother out but it is still getting down around 60 degrees at night and the 6 chicks I have in there right now are only 4 weeks old. I also have 2 other chickens sitting and might have more hatched out in about two weeks. I'm thinking about trying the pvc pipe automatic feeder and watering system but that space is really tight already. I just wanted some input from some seasoned professionals.

I couldn't see any pictures, but from your description, it sounds like the cordoned off area is fine. I only have two chicks at the moment, but took a similar approach, and built a small cage to put in the coop with the adults. As you can see from the picture, I built a waterer and feeder out of a couple of two-gallon buckets, which eliminated the food mess.